A monarch makes a transition to democracy

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, JUNE 19. Bulgaria will make history when its former monarch forms a coalition Government of ``democratic and progressive'' forces. The former King Simeon II is likely to take at least 120 seats in the 240-member Parliament.

Last night, Mr. Simeon said he would try and form a broad coalition Government. The former monarch founded the new Bulgarian political movement only two months ago but gained popularity because of his reformist appeal and determination to make Bulgaria a full member of the E.U. and NATO.

Mr. Simeon was deposed and forced into exile in 1946 at the age of nine when communists took power. Since then, Mr. Simeon has lived in Madrid, making a living as a business consultant. Bulgaria has endured bad governance for decades with nearly a quarter of its working population currently unemployed. In April 1997, anti-communists won an outright majority of 137 seats in the 240-seat national parliament. Since then, the Balkan country has been edging closer toward full membership of NATO and the European Union. This may yet happen after a decade or two.

Bulgaria's pro-market and non-socialist movement is now led by its former king, who has won a vote of confidence on the election promises of accelerated pace of economic reform and a crackdown on organised crime in the country. With its neighbour Romania, Bulgaria was a key Communist State during the heyday of the Soviet empire. But the country has shed its communist past. The former Communists who called themselves socialists, pursued poor economic policies which pushed the country toward hyper- inflation. Organised crime flourished and the Government even allowed a series of companies owned and run by criminals to gain control over banks and trading companies. Such gangs specialised in running protection rackets in towns where shopkeepers, small traders and farmers paid protection money for their survival and security.

Almost 90 per cent of Bulgarians are Eastern Orthodox Christians and just over 12 per cent are Muslims. Bulgaria has tried to establish Western-style democratic institutions. However, the absence of an enlightened leadership and the lack of political, social and educational institutions paved the way for nepotism, corruption and organised crime. The country's economic troubles were inevitable. Bulgaria's hopes of joining the E.U. depends on the pace of political and economic reforms that the new coalition Government pursues.

Bulgaria has a strong tradition of criminality in public affairs and corrupt interests have profited by plundering State assets with the connivance of old communist connections. Under the leadership of the late Todor Zhikov, who was Bulgaria's undisputed leader from 1959 to November 1989, the country made modest progress towards industrialisation.

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Section  : International
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